The Chromecast has a Netflix promotion, and… it’s gone

Google is no longer offering three months of Netflix with the device.

Barely a day after its introduction, Google has removed the Chromecast’s Netflix promotion, according to a statement given to the Los Angeles Times. The promotion, nearly as valuable as the device itself, ended due to “overwhelming demand,” Google said.

The $35 Chromecast debuted yesterday at a Google event (alongside the Nexus 7) as an HDMI dongle that can pull in video from Chrome apps, YouTube, or Netflix on an Android or iOS device and play them on a TV. Google concealed some realities of the device—for instance, it requires USB power to work—but its ability to stream video while letting users continue about their business on the device feeding the video to the Chromecast seems pretty nifty.

Netflix was the only non-Google app to work with the Chromecast, so it appeared to have some kind of brief exclusive partnership with Google on the device. Initially, three months of Netflix service for new, previous, or current customers were offered with the purchase of a Chromecast.

Customers appear to have reached the limits of the generosity of Netflix, Google, or both—the Chromecast is now a standalone purchase. The Chromecast’s ability to pull in a stream of any active Chrome tab has so far encouraged more nefarious uses of the Chromecast than Netflix; it seems Google may have a little trouble defending its existence to interested parties.